Los Angeles June 12.
The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, said on Wednesday that India and the
United States have to work in tandem to defeat the menace of jehadi terrorism
fuelled by religious extremism, the epicentre of which is Pakistan.

Terrorists had attacked Parliament,
temples, aircraft, trains and buses in India and spared no one, including women
and children, leading to the death of more than 60,000 innocent Indians, Mr.
Advani said.

``The epicentre of international terrorism
lies in India's immediate neighbourhood ... it gives me no joy in pointing
fingers but the involvement of Pakistan can no longer be ignored,'' he said.

Jehadi terrorism was a threat not only to
the security of the two countries but to peace and tranquillity around the
world. The terrorists who were against America also come from the same pool of
jehadi terrorism, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is on a
10-day visit to the U.S. and the U.K. to hold discussions on the global war
against terrorism, was delivering a talk on `Indo-U.S. Relations in a Strategic
Perspective', under the aegis of the World Affairs Council here. Academics and
diplomats, including those from Pakistan, were among the audience.

Mr. Advani said the Prime Minister, Atal
Behari Vajpayee, had once again extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan which
should demonstrate that it was sincere in implementing the promises made to the
United States. and the international community regarding dismantling of the
jehadi terrorist infrastructure which they had spawned and fostered.

Explaining the controversial ``retirement''
threat of the Prime Minister during his recent interview, Mr. Advani said Mr.
Vajpayee was referring to his earlier peace bids with Pakistan — Lahore bus trip
and the Agra summit — and only implied that he would give up the effort if the
third and final attempt failed.

Mr. Advani urged Pakistan to heed the
voices of sanity and give up its futile path of confrontation with India. India,
he said, was determined to see that the scourge of terrorism was removed and
that the people of Jammu and Kashmir lived in peace and prosperity.

He said the infrastructure facilitating
cross-border terrorism remained in place as a result of strong support that the
terrorists received by being aided, abetted and sponsored from abroad.

Nuclear
deterrence

Replying to a question, Mr. Advani said
India's nuclear policy was based on no-first use and deterrence. He said if
India were made a member of the United Nations Security Council, it would
discharge its duties with full responsibility.

Mr. Advani said the purpose of his visit
was to weave political, economic and military strands into a strategic
partnership.

Indo-US ties, he said, were characterised
by an ``unprecedented dynamism and willingness on both sides to strengthen the
relations''.

Referring to the visit of the then U.S.
President, Bill Clinton, to India in 2000 and invitation to President George W.
Bush, Mr. Advani pointed out that after the end of the Cold War, the two
``estranged democracies'' had become ``engaged democracies'' with high-level
contacts becoming frequent and substantive.

Tributes
to Mahatma, Nehru

The Deputy Prime Minister paid tributes to
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel for their vision to make India
a strong democratic and secular state.

He said the economic reforms had brought
about growth and these were being implemented without social turmoil or
political instability.

`No
theocratic state'

Mr. Advani said that India would never
become a theocratic state and expressed the confidence that it would be among
the world's developed nations by the year 2020.

Theocracy was alien to India and its polity
but ``pseudo-secularism would not thrive either,'' the Deputy Prime Minister
told a gathering organised by more than 70 associations of Non-Resident Indians
and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs).

Even an atheist had a place in Indian
society, so a thinker who promoted the ``crass materialism'' of the ``eat, drink
and be merry'' philosophy was not prosecuted but tolerated, he said. — UNI

Addressing the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations
and later a well-attended meeting of the Indian American community in
Chicago on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani rejected
suggestions that India be turned into a Hindu State.

That was an option rightly rejected by the leaders at
the time of partition of the country and now cannot be changed, the
Bharatiya Janata Party leader said and gave a 'solemn pledge' that it
would not be done.

Advani expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata
party would win the
parliamentary
elections scheduled for 2004 and that Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee would continue to lead the country.

His party, he said, would not fight elections purely
on political issues but stress on good governance, development and other
economic issues.

Since forming the coalition government, the BJP had
tried to fulfill the promises it has made in its election manifesto. It
might not be one hundred per cent successful but it also cannot be accused
of ignoring them, he said.

There is no denying that the country has made much
more progress under Vajpayee's leadership than under several earlier
governments, he said.

In this connection, he paid tribute to the
stewardship of Vajpayee who, he said, had successfully led the government
in coalition with several parties, some whom once did not want to even
'touch' the BJP, and in the process has proved wrong doomsayers who were
predicting a short tenure for National Democratic Alliance government.

Vajpayee is now the longest serving non-Congress
prime minister, he pointed out.

Some sixty Indian American organisations had come
together to extend a warm welcome to Advani, who also addressed a meeting
of party workers.

New Delhi (CNSNews.com) - Americans of Indian origin have protested against an
official visit to the U.S. by India's deputy prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani,
who has a controversial history of promoting Hindu fundamentalism.\b

[Karl Note: Compare the speech by
Advani which suggest exactly the opposite of how CBS reported this???[

Indian-American groups under the umbrella of the Coalition to Support Democracy
and Pluralism in India staged a small demonstration outside the Indian Embassy
in Washington Wednesday while Advani was in the building.

Advani has been on an official tour of the U.S. at the invitation of Vice
President Dick Cheney and has also met with President George W. Bush, National
Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

According to the coalition, protestors carried placards comparing Advani with
ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and calling for an end to violence by Hindu
militants against Muslims and Christians in India.

The group also organized a peace vigil at the Gandhi Statue in Washington. It
said some family members of Indians killed during last year's Hindu-Muslim riots
in Gujarat state took part in the vigil.

In a letter to U.S. political leaders, the coalition urged Washington to
withdraw its support for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"We urge the United States to reconsider its support to a religious
fundamentalist party such as the BJP, which will cause permanent damage to the
civil society in India," it said.

The letter was signed by more than 20 coalition member organizations, including
groups representing Christians, Muslims and Hindus of Indian origin.

Advani is known in India for his efforts to strengthen the BJP's hold on power
by promoting Hindu nationalist views and is considered a leading "hard liner"
with regard to India's half-century-old dispute with neighboring Pakistan.

Hindu-majority India accuses Muslim Pakistan of sponsoring terrorists fighting
to end Indian rule in Kashmir, a territory divided between the countries and
claimed in its entirety by both.

Advani is also closely associated with a radical Hindu group called the National
Volunteer Corps (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS), accused by Christians and
Muslims of organizing violent attacks against adherents of the minority faiths.

Despite having a constitution giving equal rights to all religions, India has a
long history of violence between Hindus and Muslims, but attacks on Muslims and
Christians have increased since the BJP took power in March 1998.

In recent years, about 200 attacks on Christians and their institutions have
been reported. Most were blamed on the RSS, which claims four million members,
and similar groups.

Last year, Gujarat was wracked by Hindu-Muslim violence that cost about 900
lives. The killings were triggered when a Muslim mob torched a railway carriage
at Godhara, burning to death 59 Hindu pilgrims. Most of the victims in the end
were Muslims.

In the late 1980s, the RSS launched a public campaign to promote a collective
Hindu identity.

Then in 1991, Advani undertook a historic "chariot journey" from a Hindu temple
in Gujarat to the legendary birthplace of the Hindu god, Ram.

The symbolic journey helped transform the BJP from a marginal group with just
two seats in parliament a decade ago to the ruling party today.

Advani was accused the following year of a role in the destruction by Hindus of
a 16th century mosque, which had been built on a site where some Hindus believe
a Hindu temple once stood.

RSS leaders had no official reaction to the anti-Advani protests in the U.S.

A RSS worker in New Delhi, Ram Singh, on Thursday dismissed the protests.

"The coalition approach against Advani is ridiculous and dangerous," he said.

"At a time when India is trying to create international awareness about
Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, such groups are trying to divert the issue."

Ram said organizations in the U.S. had no right to interfere in India's internal
affairs.

"They should not be concerned as to which political party should rule the
country," he added.

Deputy Prime Minister LK
Advani is arriving in London on Sunday after his visit to the US. During
his four-day visit on the invitation of his British counterpart Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott, Advani will be meeting Prime Minister Tony
Blair.

Advani is also scheduled to hold
discussions with Home Secretary David Blunkett and Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw. BAE's Hawk deal, terrorism, Indo-Pak relations and Iraq are likely
to figure in the Deputy Prime Minister's talks.

On Sunday evening the High Commissioner of India
Ronen Sen will be holding a reception in the honour of the Deputy Prime
Minister at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. On Monday morning
Advani will meet Prime Minister Tony Blair, following which he will meet
the press outside 10, Downing Street.

Incidentally, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf,
who is arriving in London on Tuesday, will meet Tony Blair the same day.

Since the Gujarat riots Advani's visits to London
have always been marked with demonstrations. This time South Asia
Solidarity Group, Asian Women United, Ahimsa, Indian Workers Association
GB, Awaaz and Women Living Under Muslim Laws are planning to hold
demonstrations.

During his stay Musharraf will attend the annual
dinner of Pakistan Society where Prince Charles will be the chief guest.
He will depart for the US on Friday.

Islamabad:
Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said a meeting with
his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee _ for resolving wide ranging
bilateral issues between the two countries _ would be preceded by the talks
at the secretary-level.

Talking to mediapersons, Jamali said groundwork was
under way to initiate talks at the secretary-level between the two countries
and the outcome of these efforts would determine his meeting with the Indian
Premier.

The News quoted the prime
minister as expressing optimism about holding a meaningful dialogue with
Vajpayee in the very near future, but added: "No immediate meeting with the
Prime Minister (Vajpayee) is on my current agenda."

Jamali said Pakistan was a 'peace-loving country' and
it would continue efforts to resolve bilateral issues with India through
peaceful means.

Stating that conditions were favourable for talks
between the two countries, Jamali said: "Let the meetings between the
foreign secretaries of the two countries take place, after which the stage
would be set for high-level talks between the neighbours."

He refused to comment on Indian Deputy Prime Minister L
K Advani's statement in the US, in which he described Pakistan as the
epicentre of international terrorism. He said this matter pertained to Prime
Minister Vajpayee and it was up to him to decide whether the statements of
his deputy were encouraging the peace process.

Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani
greets UN Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor (left) at a special gathering
of some elite Indians and Americans as well, organised by the Consulate General
of India in New York. PTI

NEW YORK: As Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani
wound up his week-long tour of the US on Saturday evening, it was clear that the
two sides are coming to terms with each other. Advani's visit, capped by his
meetings with US President George W. Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and senior
US officials, underlined the importance attached by them to the BJP strongman.

While the dividends from his stand against Pakistan are yet to be evaluated,
Advani has clearly resisted the US pressure on India to commit its troops for
peace-keeping in Iraq. He has also extracted a promise from Bush to persuade
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to create conditions conducive to a peace
process between the two countries. The US efforts to engage him have also paid
off, making him give up his widely perceived opposition to peace talks between
India and Pakistan.

The US accorded Advani utmost importance. The President made it a point to meet
with him and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called on him at his hotel room
on a Sunday, a day in advance, because he had to go out the next day. Henry
Kissinger met the Deputy Prime Minister for 25 minutes. Scores of Secret Service
personnel shadowed him wherever he went. At times, even helicopters were pressed
into service to strengthen his security.

Advani played his cards rather well. It was the Nehru-card before elitist
gatherings at his lectures at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the
Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Once among the diaspora, he was back to be
his normal self of a Sardar Patel-fan. For example, while addressing a gathering
of the diaspora at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan here on Friday night, he made
references to Patel and even Veer Savarkar. He told the people of Indian-origin
to undertake a ``pilgrimage to the Cellular Jail at the Andamans, if they could,
to get an idea of the conditions in which Savarkar spent 10 years of solitary
confinement.''

Drawing large crowds of members of the Indian community, he chose to play to the
gallery. The BJP move to confer dual-citizenship on overseas Indians was enough
to win the hearts of the diaspora. Wherever he went, his reference to the Bill
on the issue electrified the diaspora. Shedding the acquired sober mannerism of
the American society, the members of the Indian community let themselves go in
jubilation. Whistles and 'Bharat Mata ki jai' greeted his references to the
dual-citizenship move. They gave him standing ovations wherever he went. If they
had to pay up dollars to be seated at dinners in his honour, they did not mind
paying up.

For a community yearning to assert its self-confidence after achieving a marked
success in all walks of life, his rhetoric was enough to draw cheers. If he
talked of a permanent seat for India at the UN, the audience clapped in support.
If he said that ``this century belongs to India and we would become a
superpower'' they were ready to lend a helping hand by clapping.

At the end of the day, Advani seemed to have come out of the shell and is set to
acquire a wider profile. If the world is keen on dealing with him, well, he is
willing too.

New York, June 14 (UNI) Deputy Prime
Minister L K Advani has paid glowing tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
saying he was solely responsible for the unification of India in the
post-Partition period.

''(British-ruled) India would have been split into 500 parts -- not just two --
but for the wisdom and courage shown by Patel,'' Mr Advani told an
Indian-American community meeting last night. ''It's an act of a genius.'' The
Deputy Prime Minister said amid applause, ''He (Sardar Patel) persuaded some,
awakened patriotism among others and used force in a few cases.'' In his speech
to the meeting, a dinner-reception organized mainly by the local Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan chapter and co-sponsored by various community organizations, Mr Advani
referred to Sardar Patel's contributions to a united India and the erstwhile
princely states.

The BJP leader -- who spoke mostly Hindi -- unveiled the portrait of Sardar
Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of Independent India, on the occasion.

''When Nizam decided to be the ruler of an independent state, citing an
unauthenticated assurance by the departing British, the Sardar was unwavering in
his stance. Though he called in the Army to ensure the merger of Hyderabad state
with the Indian Union, it was named only 'police action' (to minimize public
opposition),'' Mr Advani, observed.

He also unveiled the statue of Jayaprakash Narayan, whose birth centenary is
currently being celebrated in India. The statue, made in Patna, where Narayan
had his early education, was brought from New Delhi on Thursday.